Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Wind Power Negotiations to Continue

And the end of a long public meeting, the Public Service Commission and three other state agencies decided to continue with negotiations between Bluewater Wind and Delmarva Power. The PSC staff recommended that the parties set aside parallel negotiations involving a natural gas backup facility until an agreement is reached on wind power. They set a short deadline of December 10 for the parties to submit a wind power agreement, which would then be taken up for consideration on December 18.The agencies further decided that Lawrence Hamermesh be asked to take a stronger hand in the negotiations, more along the lines of an arbitrator than as an observer. How strong a hand he takes is an open question.The outcome is good news to the wind power advocates on hand. Will Kempton called it the best possible result from today's meeting, for reasons I will elaborate on later. I will have much more to report tomorrow.

I applaud the PSC, the Governor and the Legislature for responding to the pleas of the public to continue negotiations. It's clear to me the Commissioners want clarity in the rate comparisons, and they want a deal soon. Kicking the mediator's role up to the level of arbitrator is spot on. Thank you! Patricia Gearity